Review: The Milky Way Liberation Front
South Korean Filmmaker Seongho Yoon`s Whimsical Tale
Nov 6, 2008
Anyone who has ever experienced the world of independent filmmaking, or indeed any sort of self-propelled creative endeavor, will instantly smile at this debut effort written and directed by young, Korean filmmaker Seongho Yoon. Milky Way Liberation Front is a perky and oddly whimsical tale that playfully illustrates the perpetual creative block, masquerading as the development of an idea, that can be the bane of so many fledgling film projects.
Front stars Lim Ji-gyu as Yeong-Jae, a nerdy guy franticly sweating out an indie script with little success. His once loyal girlfriend's patience has all but evaporated (an excellent exasperated performance from Seo Yeong-ju) and his production is quickly falling apart. But Yoon imbues Yeong and his merry band of hapless nitwits with a genuine likeability and is never cruel or mocking even though the material is desperately ripe for it.
There's a Reason Some Talent Remains Undiscovered
Feeding off each others delusions they bounce around a series increasingly more ridiculous and impractical ideas (an aphasiac Russian spy discovers he is homosexual and renounces communism to become a real estate agent...A lighthouse guard falls in love with one half of conjoined twins and can't tell which one it was after they are separated). Watching them you don't so much cringe as meekly blush as your mind wanders back to that idea for a novel you had whilst laying on the couch staring at the ceiling one rainy Sunday afternoon.
Of course there are the inevitable obstacles along the way and like a stoner with a history project something always surfaces to ensure that moment where they actually begin is always just around the corner. ("How's the script coming? Oh, it's finished, I just have to write it"). Despite this Yoon mercifully ensures his characters are utterly blind to their predicament, but never short on enthusiasm bordering on the terminal
1% Inspiration, 99% Perspiration
Occasionally the idea does get labored; the fourth instance where they sit around and naively discuss how to get investment is more than sufficient, but Yoon's eclectic and inventive directing style sees him bleed the delusion over into reality with some highly imaginative set pieces, such as the increasing stress reducing Ji-gyu's voice to a particularly silly sound effect that once again kick starts the team's "creativity."
Those whose capacity to daydream far outweighs their ability to produce make a somewhat easy target in the Internet age. So full credit to Yoon for finding such a fresh and imaginative way to actually lift them up instead of simply shooting them down. Rather than just another tale of pretentious, artsy people doing pretentious, artsy things, Yoon ensures that these guys are just so amiable that you never want anything less than complete success for them and their really, really awful ideas. These aren't bad guys - they just want to make the single greatest, most magnificent film of all time, that's all.
